Thread supply and handling device



Dec-V 1934- F. ASHWORTH THREAD SUPPLY AND HANDLING DEVICE Filed Ju1y119,1932 2 sheetswsheet 1 Dec. 4, 1934- F. ASHWORTH THREAD SUPPLY ANDHANDLING DEVICE Filed July 19, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Wiiness PatentedDec. 4, 1934 U I ED STATES PATENT "OFFIC 1,983,161 THREAD SUPPLY ANDHANDLING evice Fred"Ashworth-,Beverly, Mass, assignor to United ShoeMachinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J;, a

. i corporation of New Jersey Application July 19,. 1932,. Seria1 No.623,386

6 Claims. (01. 9146) The present invention relates to devices for by thesewing mechanism. In connection with supplying and handling: waxed. orlubricated. this feature of the invention the supply reel is threads.tor shoe sewing: machines. provided with. a. brakeadapted to be actuatedby Itiscommon practiceinwaxithreadxshoe sewing the slack threadcontroller so that the thread ,5; machines to setthe stitches: formed bythe stitch. clamp will grip a substantially straight portion of 9forming devicesagainst a thread clamp or' look thread between the threadcontroller and the act ng on an unwaxed portion of the thread andguiding means for directing the thread into the thereafter to circulatethe thread througha liquid wax-pot, which portion of the thread willalways wax bath. The pulleys andguides requiredtodibe maintained under aslight yielding tension. gmrrect. the thread from the supply through thethread lock andinto and out of the bath add. to the inertia of-the;threadagainst moving, and impart an irregular frictionalcomponent toresistregular intermittent movement of the thread, which isparticularly-1 undesirable when the sewing devices-are operated at highspeed. Further.- more, the extra length of thread between thethread-lock and the stitch forming devices which is ordinarily requiredto conduct. the thread to'and 12m; from the bath, due to the naturalelasticity of the thread, increases the total amount of threadelongation when tensed, so that this factor also tends to preventaccurate setting of each stitch uni formly in the work. i l

The objects of the present invention are. to provide an arrangement f orsupplying waxedor lubricated. thread toa sewing machine in whichthelength ot thread leading to the stitch forming devicesimay be reducedto aminimum and toprovide simplified and improved devices formanipulatingi and waxing, the thread. i i With. these objects in view,the presentinvention contemplates the; provision a shoe sewingwmachine;having. avwax-pot and, means for 3'52 guiding. the thread; from a.supply; reel downwardly into'andupwardly out of the wax-pot, or. aresilientrslacltv thread; controller: acting above the ..wax-- pottoguide the thread from the supply'before it. passes over the otherthread: guiding means andto surrender-thread through the thread; guideswhen the tension is increased, thereby reducing thestotal lengthotthread 1 required to be 7 moved by the sewing mechanism. 4. i o iAccording to/another feature of the invention, a thread clamp ismounted. directlyon the struce ture' for supporting the-wax-potand. inthe illus-- trated embodiment of. this feature the Wax-potconsists of a:container for holding a supply of wax diluted in: assomewhat volatilesolvent so; that a sealing cover is provided toprevent excess sir-1 newandimproved wax-pot construction and other novel" combinations andarrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed willbe readilyunderstood by those skilled in the art from the following description inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a plan viewofthe thread supplying apparatus embodying the present invention,together with so much of the sewing mechanism as appertains thereto;Fig; 2 is a viewiniront'elevation oi the appa- 7o; ratus shownin Fig. I;Fig. 3 is a View in side elevation of the same devices taken from theright; and Fig. 4 is a detail view in elevation of the threadlclampembodied in the present inventi'om looking from: the-left side.

As illustrated in the drawings, the invention is shown as: applied to ashoe sewing machine of the McKay type similarin many respects to the;machine illustrated and" described in the applicarial-No: 16il-,20.' ,.vfiled February 18,1927. In this machine the thread is drawn from asupply and, directed intoawax-pot, through a thread lock, overrvariouspulleys and thread guides, around and: upwardly into the sewingmechanism of the machine. The main frame of the machine, indi" cated at10, supports the various devices for supplyingi and handling the thread;The take-up is? indicated at; 12, having at its free end, a threadguiding pulley 14 fromzwhich the thread passes upwardly through ahollcwyertica'l shaft supportin'ga' gear 16. The take up isactuatedthrougha system of links 18 operated by a gear 20 rotating inproper timed relation with the other. stitch forming; devices (notshown) on a shaft 22-, which gear meshes with the gear 16. i A

' Inhthemachine asshown, thread is waxed and supplied byfdevicesmountedupon' a single unitary bracket or frame 24- fixed to'the mainframe of Other features of the invention, including a 65;

tion for S; patent of Bernard T. Leveque, Se- 85;

a pulley on. the forward end of a take-up arm, 9o; 4

culationof air inthe container, and the thread. clamp is mounted. closetothe upper. side 1 of. the sealing; cover with means for operating theclamp extending beyond. the waxspot supporting struce turein aipositionto beloperatediin the usual way themachine by bolts 26'. A thread supplyreel, indicated at 28, isrotatably mountedupon a spindle 30 carried bythe rearwardly extending arm ofthe bracket 24.. The reel 28 is arrangedto rotate on; the spindle 30 with a wheel 32, and a brake member 34 ispivotally mounted on a shaft 36 carried by a downward extension from thebracket 24 to retard the rotation of the wheel.

In the present embodiment of the invention, the thread extends from thereel upwardly and to a point at one side of the reel directly over acontainer 38 for the wax, also supported on the bracket 24. Fordirecting the thread from the reel and above the wax container 38, anelongated resilient thread controlling member 40 is provided, secured atits lower end by means of a screw 42 to the brake member 34. The upperend of the controlling member is properly shaped to hold aside a bend ofthread at a definite position above the wax container. The brake member34 is moved against the wheel 32, and the thread controlling member 40is maintained in raised position determined by the engagement of thebrake with the wheel, by a spring 44 coiled about the shaft 36 on whichthe brake 34 is pivoted, the spring being bent at one end to engage thethread controlling member along its lower portion. The other end of thespring engages a slot in the end of the shaft 36 which is fixed in thebracket 24. The thread extends from the bend at the upper end of thethread controlling member in a substantially straight line downwardlyinto the wax pot, around a guiding pulley 46. The pulley 46 is supportedwithin the wax pot from a downwardly extending arm carried by a coverportion 48 of the frame 24. The thread then passes upwardly in asubstantially straight line through a stripper 50 in the cover portion48 and over a guiding pulley 52, and thence downwardly to the take-uppulley 14. The pulley 52 is rotatably mounted on a screw 54 carried by abracket 56 extending upwardly from the cover portion 48, and beingsecured thereto by screws 58.

In passing downwardly from the thread controlling member 40, the threadpasses loosely through an opening in the cover, and through a tubularmember 59 carried by the cover and projecting into the wax container 38.The thread opening in the cover and in the tubular member 59 are ofsufficient size to permit considerable lateral movement of the threadwithout binding, and to accommodate a slight shift in the line of threadmovement from the bend about the upper end of the thread controllingmember as the thread controlling member yields in response to threadtension. When the tension on the thread is increased, the yieldingmovement of the thread controlling member 40 not only acts to deliverthread from the bend, but also causes the brake member 34 to be releasedfrom the wheel 32, permitting the wheel to rotate so long as anappreciable thread tension exists. When the tension is releasedsomewhat, the brake is again applied, but the thread controlling memberacts to take up slack thread so as to maintain the thread runningthrough the wax container in a substantially straightened condition,thereby eliminating erratic movement of the thread and reducing theinertia of the parts contacting with the thread between the supply andthe sewing mechanism to a minimum.

In the machine of the'application, the thread lock against which thestitches are set acts upon a waxed portion of thread and is positionedsome distance from the container for the wax, so that a considerablelength of thread is required totraverse this extra distance.

According to a feature of the present invention, the thread clamp is solocated that it will engage the downwardly directed unwaxed portion ofthread extending from between the bend about the thread controllingmember and the pulley 46 within the container 38. The thread lock of themachine is in the form of a clamp comprising a fixed member 60 and amovable shoe 62 having ribbed thread engaging surfaces. The fixed memberis secured by means of a screw 64 to the bracket 56 on the top of thecover portion 48, and the movable shoe is pivotally mounted on one armof 'a lever 66 fulcrumed on a pivot 68 passing through the bracket 56.The other arm of the lever 66 is pivotally connected with the lower endof a rod 70 sliding in a slot formed in a projecting portion of thebracket 56. The shoe 62 is normallyheld in engagement with the brakingmember 60 by the action of a spring 72 coiled about the rod 70 andcompressed between the pivoted end of the rod and a washer 74 engagingthe slotted portion of the bracket 56.

The movable thread clamping shoe 62 is operated away from the fixedmember 60 to release the thread intermittently by the action of an arm76 secured to the shaft 68 and arranged to extend above and to one sideof the cover portion 48. The free end of the arm is provided with a camroll 78 cooperating with a cam member 80 projecting from the face of thegear 20 in the proper angular position. To release the thread clamp atthe end of the seam, as is usual in this type of machine, the upper endof the rod '70 is provided with an arm 82 extending into the path ofmovement of a lever 84 pivoted on the main frame 10 of the machine. Whenthe forward arm of the lever 84 is raised at the end of a seam, the armengages and raises the rod to release the shoe 62 from the clampingmember 60. The lever is maintained in inoperative position against a lugon the cover 48 during sewing by a spring 86 stretched' between thelever and the frame 24.

The container 38 for the wax is readily removable from the frame bothfor refilling and for permitting access to the guiding pulley 46. Forthis purpose the container is removably carried within a holding cage 88fastened by screws 90 to the under side of a hollow rectangular support92. The support 92 is slidable on a rod 94 projecting downwardly fromthe cover portion of the frame 24 and fastened in position thereon by ahand clamping screw 96, so that upon release of the clamping screw, thecontainer 38 may be lowered and removed or swung to one side of thecover and pulley 46 about the rod 94 and clamped in its new position bythe clamping screw. When in raised position the container surrounds thepulley 46 and extends into contact with a yield ing gasket 98 to preventair circulation or drying of the wax diluent or other volatile liquidcontained therein. Springs 100 are also provided at the bottom of thecage 88 to resiliently compress the container against the cover.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A wax thread supply device for sewing machines having, incombination, a frame, a container for liquid wax or lubricating fluid, aholder for the container supported on the frame, guiding means on theframe within the container for directing thread downwardly into thecontainer, guiding means for directing thread upwardly from thecontainer, means for rotatably supporting a wound mass of thread on theframe, and a slack thread controller yieldingly engaging the thread tohold aside a bend of thread above the wax container and to surrenderthread in a substantially straight line from the bend to the downwardlydirecting guiding means within the container as the tension on thethread is increased between the thread mass and said guiding means.

2. A wax thread supply device for sewing machines having, incombination, a frame, a container for liquid wax or lubricatingfiuid, aholder for the containersupported on the frame, means on the frame fordirecting thread downwardly into the container and upwardly from thecontainer, means for rotatably supporting a wound mass of thread ontheframe, a slack thread controller yieldingly holding a bend of thread atone side of the wound mass and above the wax container, and a releasablethread clamp mounted on the frame for engaging the thread along adownwardly directed substantially straight portion thereof between thethread controller and the container.

3. A wax thread supply device for sewing machines having, incombination, a frame, a container for liquid wax or lubricating fluid, aholder supported on the frame from which the container is readilyremovable, a sealing cover on the frame against which the container issecured by the holder, guiding means on the frame for directing threadthrough the cover downwardly into the container and upwardly from thecontainer, a thread clamp mounted on the frame for engaging an unwaxedportion of the thread just before it passes through the cover, and meansextending from the frame for actuating the thread clamp.

4. A wax thread supply device for sewing machines having, incombination, a frame, a container for liquid wax or lubricatingfluid, aholder supported on the frame from which the container is readilyremovable, a sealing cover on the frame against which the container issecured by the holder, guiding means on the frame for directing threadin substantially straight lines downwardly into the container andupwardly from the container, a thread clamp mounted on the frame abovethe sealing cover for engaging the thread along a straight unwaxedportion thereof, and means extending from the frame for actuating thethread clamp.

5. A wax thread supply device for sewing machines having, incombination, a frame, a container for liquid wax or lubricating fluid, aholder for the container supported on the frame, means on the frame fordirecting thread downwardly into the container and upwardly from thecontainer, means for rotatably supporting a wound mass of thread on theframe, a brake to retard the rotation of the wound mass, a slack threadcontroller yieldingly holding a bend of thread at one side of the woundmass and above the container to take up slack thread payed off from thewound mass and being arranged to release the break following a pull onthe thread and a releasable thread clamp mounted on the frame forengaging the thread along a downwardly directed substantially straightportion thereof between the thread controller and the container.

6. A wax thread supply device for sewing machines having, incombination, a frame having a 100 cover portion, thread guiding meansto, direct thread through the cover and a rod extending downwardly fromthe frame, a supporting member slidably mounted on the rod and arrangedwith a central opening, a holder carried by the m supporting member, acontainer for liquid wax or other lubricant slidably received throughthe central openingin the supporting, member and within the holder,resilient means between the bottom of the holder and the container, and1 means for clamping the supporting member on the rod to maintain thewax container in surrounding relation to the thread guiding means on theframe and in yielding engagement with the cover or in a lowered positionat one side of 115 the thread guidingmeans and cover.

FRED ASHWORTH.

